I, The Jury (1953)

I, The Jury (1953) is a violent sexified-narcotic Mike Hammer exploitation shocker Private Eye thriller film noir, in fact it was the first violent Mike Hammer exploitation shocker Private Eye thriller film noir.

Mike Hammer is explosively portrayed by newcomer Biff Elliot who walks into shot and examines the dead body of his one-armed pal, some crude jokes are made and then Hammer brutally attacks a journalist, smashing him into a rack of plates. This is as solid a character introduction as was ever made.

While not a great film nor a great effort at a film, I, The Jury (1953) is one of these movies that seems responsible for some of the truer of film noir's tropes and visions.

99 River Street (1953)

Down at 99 River Street (1953) meet furious and and pent-up ex-boxer Ernie Driscoll; his devious but gorgeous wife Pauline; Ernie's wife's lover, a sleazy diamond thief whose got a new line in murder; and Ernie's old pal Linda James, an aspiring actress who, almost in the style of Team America ― uses her acting powers to solve the crime.

There, down at 99 River Street is where these all converge, with of course the cops and the diamond fencing gang, who are an especially brutal coterie of evil, with big spade hands for chopping necks and revolvers for the killing slug.

In for the worst weekend of his life, angry former boxer and now full time cabbie Ernie Driscoll lives life on  ropes, when he's not reliving the fatal moment in the ring where he was defeated, felled and retired, all in one series of sucker punches to the eye and gut.

It's likely one of the most definitive film noir set-ups going —  the ex-boxer, living in the shadows of society, struggling with women, struggling with the past, and struggling with crime which seems to be all around him.

We are all in to witness the fantastic escapades that ensue, when Ernie Driscoll takes yet another sucker punch to the guts.

It is supreme film noir fayre.